Tuesday's Rule #13
How to be lucky
Welcome to this week’s edition of Tuesday’s Rule! A weekly breakdown of a “life rule” I’ve found interesting or useful.
Number 13 is associated with luck.
I'm not superstitious, but it's always a good idea to take action to encourage potential good luck.
If I tell you that clicking the link below and sharing Tuesday's Rule with three people will bring you good luck for the rest of your day, it's worth doing (plus, it would make me very happy)...
Done?
OK, let's get on with it.
You gotta try your luck at least once a day, because you could be going around lucky all day and not even know it. - Jimmy Dean
The idea of luck is a funny one. We all know what it feels like to be lucky or unlucky.
The first line of the Wikipedia entry on luck is that it is “the phenomenon and belief that defines the experience of improbable events, especially improbably positive or negative ones.”
Words like "phenomenon" and "improbable" suggest that luck is something outside of our control.
But today's rule suggests that luck, or more specifically, increasing the likelihood of being lucky, can be within our grasp.
The rule is:
Increase Your Luck Surface Area
Any success story includes a slice of luck.
Right place, right time. Someone taking a chance. The business idea finding a gap in the market at exactly the right time. A publisher’s daughter happening to read (and like) the first few pages of your story, convincing her dad to publish it before turning it into a billion $ empire.
That’s exactly what happened to JK Rowling.
Before the Harry Potter series worldwide success, JK Rowling faced years of struggle and repeated rejection from publishers.
According to an article in The Independent from 2005, the original transcript was "destined for oblivion" before the 9-year-old daughter of Nigel Newton, the Chairman of Bloomsbury Publishing, read the first chapter of his transcript copy and demanded more.
The young girl's pestering power was enough for the publisher to take a gamble and write JK Rowling a cheque for £2,500. The rest, of course, is history.
An unbelievably lucky turn for both Rowling and, indeed, Bloomsbury.
Max Beesley had a reasonably successful acting career, before recently starring in the new series "The Gentlemen".
In March of this year, this show was watched 4x more than anything else on Netflix. This is likely to be the biggest hit of Max's career and, without question, The Gentleman could be considered a stroke of luck for all involved.
But as he recently revealed in a BBC interview, he once auditioned 65 times in a year without getting a single job!
You could call his success in The Gentleman lucky. Still, it's not possible to look at that level of commitment and dedication and determine that he hasn’t contributed to the luck that’s come his way.
The same is true of JK Rowling. Years of persistence, commitment, and self-belief preceded her lucky break.
I believe luck is preparation for meeting opportunity. If you hadn't been prepared when the opportunity came along, you wouldn't have been lucky. - Oprah
Preparation is one thing, but I also believe it is possible to increase your chances of being lucky by increasing your "luck surface area."
Let’s use an analogy based on fishing.
Assume that two people are fishing in a lake, using nets. Neither fisherman is more skilled than the other, the number of fish that swim into each net is simply a result of luck.
Now, assume that one of the individuals has a net that is 10x larger.
Which individual do you think will catch more fish?
This is the concept of the luck surface area brought to life.
It's more than possible to increase your own luck surface area in ways that apply to you, whatever your idea of "getting lucky" is.
Securing a dream job? Increase the number of people you are connected to in the industry that know you're looking and that you're competent.
Finding your dream home? Speak to multiple agents and set up alerts for homes that fit your criteria as soon as they come on the market.
Winning the lottery? Buy more tickets.
Cast your net wide.
By increasing your luck surface area, you are increasing the possibility of getting lucky. If one manifestation of luck is being in the right place at the right time, we will surely make ourselves luckier by being in more places, more often - metaphorically or literally.
If Max Beesley attended 65 auditions and another actor attended just 1, Max’s chance of getting lucky are 65x that of the other actor. There are countless equivalent examples.
One final quote:
I've found that luck is quite predictable. If you want more luck, take more chances. Be more active. Show up more often. - Brian Tracy
When choosing between two options, choose the one that increases your luck surface area, or your chances of being lucky…
… and do share Tuesday’s Rule with those three friends :)